Nightingale
by Angie.D.Sallee
Summary: Primrose Hawthorne, the one thing that has made the life Katniss wanted. The small blonde child that couldn't help bring a smile to her mothers face. Peeta may not be around, and Katniss doesn't think she can ever forgive Gale but the one small light in her life is this small child that now must go and put her name in the drawing for the worst games in the world. Fate is cruel...
1. Chapter 1

The sun shines into the room letting me know that I was supposed to already be up helping my mother hunt today. Why she always suggested that I help her go out and hunt was beyond me, she said that it teaches us life lessons and I seemed to have a knack with a bow. We always had enough to eat, but others weren't so lucky so I understood why my mother continued to go out and hunt for them but today all I wanted to do was sleep.

Today was the day of the reaping, which meant that I was to go and watch to see which child was to be taken from their parents and sent to get slaughtered in the Arena. My parents like to tell me that it is never going to be me because I don't put my name in for the tesserae, which is true but there have been times that the children that get called are not ones that put their name in the tesserae and that is what scares me the most.

I notice my dress is already out and waiting for me to put on but I don't, I don't want it to get dirty, my father like to drag in soot from the mines and I rather not have coal all over me if I visit the Capitol. Today is daunting, I know my name will be called, I know that I will have to go to the Capitol. How? There is this gnawing feeling that I keep getting when I think about anything.

But none of that matters, I have to get breakfast ready so I can eat and go meet my mother, I check the time and it's eleven o'clock, I have a little time to see the people I want to see and say goodbye to my parents even though they won't accept it. I put on the boots that are waiting for me at the door and start the day that I have been regretting. I get to the meadow and notice that my mother is already coming back from the trip, her bag is filled to the brim with dead squirrels and other little fury animals, which comes to no surprise to me.

"Sorry! I guess I didn't hear the alarm," I walk over to her and take the bag.

"It's alright. I turned it off before it woke you this morning. Did you see the dress?" She smiles down at me.

"I did! It's beautiful but..." I looked down.

"What's wrong Prim?" She gave me a look.

"I don't want to wear it... I might get it dirty," I say shrugging.

"You won't get it dirty. You won't be in it that long," she said pulling me to her oh if she knew what feeling I had today.

We walk to the Hob and sell everything, my mother then hands the coins to the baker and it makes me question her once again. It's not as though we need the money but it's as though he needs it either, it's always been a thing she did and when my father found out he yelled at her and told her to stop but she hasn't. She looks over at me and tells me not to tell, I smile and nod my head, I hate it when my parent's fight so keeping secrets is an easy thing for me now.

She looks at the clock on the baker's wall and it's already twelve thirty and now she's rushing me back home so I can get dressed. We both walk in the house, take off our boots and head up the stairs so we can get dressed, she hates dresses but she wears one for the reaping every year. I am dressed first, I know this because I am down in the kitchen before she is, I want to tell her that I am afraid but that won't do any good because she doesn't want to believe that I can be called. She comes down with two pairs of heels in her and I sigh, though I am better in them than she is I still hate those things with a passion.

"Can't I just not go today?" I ask my mother, my voice a little on the pleading side but I'm getting anywhere.

"The reaping is a must. You know this Prim," her voice is small and low like she is trying to hide our conversation. But I can't help to blurt out what if they call my name and she turns to look at me with serious eyes and a tear falls from mine unexpectedly. "Primrose Hawthorne, you've only had your name in the running for two years. The odds are in your favor, I promise you." She leans over and kisses my forehead.

"Since when has that ever mattered?" I say under my breath but I know she hears me.

"Prim..." She tries.

"No mom... I'm scared, I can't do what you did... I don't think I can be that strong," I explain to her.

Katniss Everdeen, that name that sends chills through people's spines, the name that means victory and rebellion. The name that I know so well, the name of my mother. Though it is said that she was the one that started the rebellion, the Capitol let her live claiming that she was had no clue as to what those people were doing to her. They erased the rebellion from history and only talked about it so they could belittle any person that thought about it.

This year is the 90th anniversary and the Capitol is pushing this more than my mother it should be, this year feels off somehow but I can't explain it. My father walks in and I smile, he walks over to my mother and gives her a small kiss on the forehead and then looks to me with a really big grin on his face. I survey the scene and noticed that every movement between them is strained today, my mother looks extremely uncomfortable and I can tell she's nervous, and so she should be.

I walk over to my father and hug him, though my dress now has soot on it I hold to the security I feel when he is around, my thoughts keep telling me to savor this moment for some reason and I hate it. I am not this way at all during reaping times. I look up and see his dark hair trying to grow out over his eyes. I smile, they call me the black sheep of the family because I do not have their hair color nor their eyes color for that matter. I'm blonde with green-blue eyes, my father says my eyes remind him of the lake water in the forest outside of the fence.

"What's the matter Prim?" He turns his head to the side like he's asking a question with his head.

"Nothing..." I part away from him. "I have to go shake out my dress I'll be down quick," I say and run out of the kitchen but stop when I hear my mother's voice.

"She thinks they are going to call her name Gale," she tells him.

"We haven't let her put her name in for the tesserae, she won't be called since she only has two name cards in there. Why in the world would she think that?" He asked.

"I don't know but Gale... Prim knew the day she got picked... I don't want her to go... I don't want them to take her away from me," it sounded like tears were falling from her eyes.

"She has to go catnip," he saying laughing, I hear him take one step toward her.

"What if they call her name?" She whispers.

"The odds..." He couldn't finish that sentence.

I walked to my room, really not wanting to hear the rest of that conversation, I shake out the dress for a minute and fight to get it back on, dresses are a hassle. I look over at my desk and notice the red ribbon that my father got me on my birthday last year and I tie my hair up with it, I survey my looks in the mirror and smile, at least I will look alright if I go to the Capitol today. I rush back to the kitchen, they both greet me with a smile, my father asks if I'm ready and then we are off just like that.

I walked holding my dad's hand, I wanted to close my eyes and be at home with this day over but when I opened them we were still walking the street. We get there and they both kiss me on I walk over to the area for the fourteen year old girls, I breathe in and close my eyes. I watch the screen, I watch the old District 2 winner from last year prance around in his glory and I hear one heel clicking and I know who steeps up to the plate, it was said that Effie Trinket was supposed to be dead but the Capitol let her live once they found out she honestly had nothing to do with the rebellion.

She smiles and starts out the normal routine, she then walks over to the girls bowl, I guess you could call it, and reaches in for a name. My stomach is in knots, I want to breathe but I can't and I try to keep my breakfast down. She smiled and then looks at the card, her head tilts to the side like she knows the name and then she reads it off.

"Primrose Hawthorne," she smiles and I hear a no from a woman's voice behind me.

I walk over to the peacekeepers and the pull me out of the crowd, I hear my mother's voice over and over again and at this point it is like white noise, all I want to do is go back to sleep and this be a dream like the one I had last night. Effie takes my hand and helps me up the stairs, she smiles at me but it isn't one of her usual smiles, it's filled with sadness because she now knows who I am. I am the daughter of the only living survivor of District 12, the one woman that Effie Trinket knew so well.

They call out a boy's name but I am to fazed to even hear it but I know his face, I don't like the boy and that is something seems brings me back, I could careless for the boy that stands next to me which is good because that means it won't be as hard killing him. That sounds barbaric in my head but I know that is the way that I am going to have to start thinking like if I want to live, no friends, no caring, nothing just plain barbaric nature. Everything ends and I heard my mother trying to get into the building, she's loud and that's a plus but she's also hysteric.

They put me in a room, it strange and it's quiet. I'm just waiting here, for what I have no clue but I know that my parents get to say good bye and I know that I am going to cry over and over because I knew this was going to happen. I door jolts open and I see my mother, she's standing there looking at me with tears in her eyes, I almost run at her at full speed but I refrain, she pulls me into a hug.

"You are going to come back... They won't let me mentor you because you are my daughter. The career tributes are the worst, don't fight them they will kill you... Hide and stay alive. Find water and please stay alive." She was becoming more hysteric by the minute.

"I know... I know..." I close my eyes and just let her hold me.

"You are good at hunting... I know you are," tears are coming down her face and she can hardly speak.

"What your mother is trying to say is come home... Win and outsmart them all. We know you can do it and we will always be cheering for you no matter what," my dad brings me into a bear hug and the tears just start pouring out.

The peacekeepers come and collect my parents and I am in the room alone once again, but not for long, the baker comes in and he is just standing there. He doesn't say anything but he wants to, he smiles at me and then hands me something, I nod and leaves the room. The tears aren't gone but they are starting to stop when the peacekeepers come to get me, where we're going is probably the train but you never know with the Capitol.

I was right they take both of us, the boy and me to the train, he's still crying and the only thought going through my head is cry baby for some reason. I'm not without fault either the redness on my face shows that but at least I have enough sense to not cry in front of the cameras. We both turn around before we enter the train and I wave with a smile, like I know that I will see these people again.

The doors shut and I fall to the floor, I want my dad, I want the security of his hand in mine but that is not going to happen and I can't process that. I hear the boy's voice beside me and then I feel hands on my sides trying to pull me up, I turn to him and look at him. He was trying to help me and we weren't even friends.

"What are you doing?" I said.

"You need to get up... Siting there won't bring them back," he said.

"I know! I know..." I said as I start getting up.

"You're not okay either?" He said.

"No... Not really," I laugh out.

"I'm Septimus Galloway," he said putting his hand out for me to shake it.

"Is that even a real name?" I make light of situation.

"Yeah... Now that I know it's not really cool I tend to not like my parents that much." He talks with his hands... annoyingly so.

"Ah... Well I'm Primrose Hawthorne." I take the hand that is still out for me.

"I know who you are," he smiles.

"Yeah don't do that..." I shake my head and walk over to the seats.

"We aren't enemies you know," he laughs out.

"We are not friends either. You and I are going to be put into an arena with 22 other people, we are going to have to fight for our life's and one of us might die… more than likely both of us. So no, we aren't enemies but we are rivals," I look away from him.

"I understand where you are coming from but let's think about it logically now… You are not even an obstacle for me now are you? You are smaller in size, weaker when it comes to muscle mass and just over all nothing compared to me… Are we really rivals or are you just trying to make it seem like you have a chance?" He laughed.

"That sounds about right… I'm not anything compared to you physically but mentally… Where are you going to be if the sponsors like me more? I have a leg on you, my mother was a victor and they loved her what makes you think you have anything on me? You are a small boy from The Seam and I'm a victor's daughter… A beloved victor's daughter, one that was name after the very sister she kept from the games? Sweetheart if you think I won't use that than you are way off base with me," I gave him one of the best evil grins that I could.

He cautiously watched me while I picked up a piece of what looked like bread and ate it. He was thinking that I was just going to lie down and accept the immediate death that could be upon both of us, boy was he wrong, I am not that person. I am weak in his eyes, okay I can play on that. I can be weak and I can be timid so that there are people who feel bad for me, so there are people that want to help me out in every way shape and form. I don't think he understood what he just did.

We were both eating in small doses, I have always had enough food to eat so seeing him holding back was funny, he should be eating, gaining enough strength to at least take some of the careers out but looking at him, he is so focused on me and that is a major problem for him. Effie comes in and looks at me, I'm done crying and I have no more redness in my face, she smiles but like the one when she noticed who I was it is a sad smile. I give her one back and she looks to the boy, he has a crap ton of food left on his face and a lot on his hands. She rolls her eyes.

"Katniss could not mentor you both because it is stated in the rules that a victor cannot mentor their own child. So they have given you both a mentor from another district… Lyme Athetna from District 2 will be your mentor Primrose and Rellion Truth from District 6 will be your mentor Septimus," as she said their names both of the mentors came in.

"Well hello you two," Lyme looked at me first and then to Septimus.

"Hello," Rellion said with a hallow voice.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are we separate or are we mentoring together?" Lyme asked.

"Separate," I said not making eye contact with Septimus.

"Alright I can work with that," Lyme said, "Rellion, you know about the rule change right?" She asked him smiling.

"Rule change?" He seemed confused.

"The Capitol are letting the tributes have more time to train and get to know their opponents, they are claiming that this is more beneficial to the tributes because it allows for all to get into a niche so they can help each other until the time being," she smiled.

"That's cruel..." Rellion was the first person I ever heard to openly say they hated the rule.

"It is what it is... We do it any way and this way it is settled before the games," Lyme was acting like it was the easiest thing, getting to know the people we are going to be killing.

Septimus looked at me, his eyes said what I was thinking this changes everything, we might be a team but why would I want to work with him when he told me that I was weak and I don't have any reason to hold on to the idea of living. Lyme kept talking to all of us about the rest of the rule changes, they changed the time we talk to the interviewer, it used to be three minutes now it's five. They added time so the sponsors get to know us more.

Lyme went on for a little longer and then they both they left, Septimus and I were the only ones left in the room. He looked over at me, "The rules... I didn't know they had any," he said sadly.

"I knew they changed them but I didn't know they changed them this bad," I sighed.

"This changes thing Primrose..." He seemed a little worried.

"Prim and it's not going to change anything though... They are going to throw us into that arena and make us kill each other only now we will know exactly why we don't want to," I looked out the window.

"I don't want to get to know anyone," he said.

"Then you will die quickly... Septimus you have a higher chance than I do... Go with the careers," I said lowly.

"Never," he seemed appalled.

"Then think of something else… I can't be the brain for both of us," I wanted to shove him away, I don't want to work with him because that means one more person that I could get attached to and possible not want to kill. Nothing has changed for me, my head is in the game I want to win because I honestly don't want to die. I watched his eyes fill with more tears, he was honestly thinking that I was going to help him in this game, he's stupid.

Before the boy starts talking again I get up and walk into the back of the train, this is thing is a lot nicer than my house but still I know I can't get to comfortable, they are probably watching every move that I make because of my mother. I open the small door to my room and gasp a little, it's bigger than I thought it was going to be. The bed is extremely nice, the sheets are soft like silk and the covers feel like they are actually cotton, the room is probably twice the size of the one at home.

I reached up to take my hair down and noticed that I still had my red ribbon, I took it out, I didn't want it to get dirty so I put it over by the mirror that was by the restroom. I looked at myself, I had black soot on my face for some strange reason and I looked really dirty compared to this nice train, so I decided that I was going to take a shower so I don't look that bad tomorrow. I walked in after I let my dress fall to the floor and noticed that there were so many nods and I had no clue which on was the one to start the shower.

It took me a few minutes but I finally got the right nob, the shower was nice it felt like I was at home, I let the familiarity wash over me and realized that I could go with the career's but I would have to get a high enough score on the board but not too high… I didn't want to make myself a bigger threat than I should be. We get more time to talk to these people and I know that I am really good with people so I knew that there might actually be a chance for me.

I walked out of the shower and Lyme was waiting for me on my bed, she was older than most but I guess that's a good thing, the games were much more vicious when she won. I walked over to her with the towel wrapped around me, I was not one to show other people my body, Lyme laughed out like it was something that was extremely hilarious which in no way was it. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the area where they had just put fresh clothing in the drawers.

"Have you started thinking about which way you want to make your image come off as?" Lyme said like it was light conversation.

"I'm small… Septimus said it before we even met you two, so I was thinking about playing on the lines of that. I don't have muscle mass, I want to make it seem like I am not even an obstacle in the others way… Kind of like Johana did when she won her year," I try to explain.

"It would be beneficial to you and you might come out on top if you are good with any weapon. So are you?" She seemed to be thinking about this more than I was.

"I seem to be good with a bow… like my mother. But I'm faster with knifes… and I like the long ranged feel of a spear," I tell her what I know for the most part.

"You like sharp pointy things got it. The girl from District 2 is amazing with knifes as well… she'll get to them first. Spears are more likely going to be on the District 1 and 3 side so you have a chance to get them if any of the tributes are slow. Bow… That would be your best bet because they will know it's yours and if you have it you can be a hunter not the hunted. I like where we are going with this but I don't like you being weak, your mother wasn't so they won't expect you to be," she said.

"But I am nothing like her…" I try to plead my case.

"No you are more like Peeta… but you have this fire… it's not going to be easy to hide it. So we are going to play more on the lines of shy and timid less than weak. The boy from my district has a weak spot for shy and timid girls, if you could get in with him than you should be fine until they start killing each other but by then you should already have your weapon and you will also know who to take out first. You could win this…" She seemed focused on her thoughts.

"Get in with him? What exactly are you asking me to do?" I question her for a moment.

"You won't get anywhere on your own, you know this, but if you could make the boy like you just long enough to get his protection at the beginning then you will have food, water, a weapon and most importantly survival. You might not like it, it might make you look like you are riding his coat tails but if you win it won't matter," she smiles.

"So all I have to do is get the boy from District 2 to like me and go from there? How hard can that be?" I asked her.

"If he figures it out before you go into the arena with him… it will cost you your life but if he's as dumb as the past tributes have been then you have nothing to worry about," she grinned.

"I don't know if I am willing to find that out," I said breathlessly.

"Do you want to win or do you want to be forgotten?" She asked me seriously.

"I want to win," I gave her my honest option.

"Then we do it my way, if I see that it's going south then I tell you and you act like you hate him. You act like it was all in the boys head. Understand?" She gave an evil grin.

"Of course," I nodded.

"Then we'll get started when we get at the Capitol but try and act more… appealing. You aren't going to win any one's heart by looking like a doll with a red ribbon," she smiled.

I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off her face but I knew she was right, if I was going to win the heart of another tribute I was going to have to be at least somewhat likeable. I stared at myself for a while in the mirror, this boy was going to have to like me by my looks at first then he was going to have to want to protect me because I'm shy… I'm not shy at all. I can be timid but once the place is familiar then it will go away and then I will be stuck with a guy that will want to kill me before everyone else.

I started to get dressed in one of the lightest colored dresses they had but noticed that it was more than likely going to make me seem like I was just a girl letting the Capitol play dress up with me, so I searched the drawer a little longer and noticed a jacket, one like my mother use to wear in the woods, I grabbed a light colored shirt and put the jacket over it. Clothes weren't going to make me not be shy and timid, so I ruffled most of the skirts around and found dark wash denim jeans, the color fit the jacket nicely so I resorted to these. Everything was starting to make since in my head, Rellion had no clue what game that I was playing so that meant neither would Septimus and to me that was okay… I didn't trust Septimus anyway.

I sat on my bed for a while thinking about how I was going to play my role, I wanted to start off by not talking to any one that much because from what I've seen from shy people they tend to let the talkers come to them, so I was going to let some of the tributes that wanted to talk to me start the talking first. But that wouldn't help me much if I wanted to have allies, I was going to have to use a weapon, any one of them, and use it well so they would want me on their team. But that also brought up the case of not wanting the others to know that I can hold my own when it comes to weapons, I was starting to get a headache when Effie knocked on the door to announce that it was dinner time.

I walked out of my room and already noticed the smell coming from that end of the train, it was amazing but I didn't want to over eat… Food was going to be very little in the games if I don't follow the plain so I didn't want to eat and start letting myself get used to eating that way if I couldn't keep it up. I walked into the main eating area and there was food by the pounds, not just food though, there were drinks and anything you wanted… This was going to be harder than I thought it was.

"Come sit!" Effie waved me over, "I'm tired of this non-mannered child any way," she looked at Septimus.

"You'll have to excuse him… He's from The Seam," I smiled as I sat by her.

"The what?" She seemed taken back by a moment, all her years as the person who comes and collects the children to kill them she had no idea what The Seam was.

"It's the poorest part of District 12…" Septimus said giving me the death glare.

"I would've been there too… if my mother had not won the games." I added the last part hoping to give the others reassurance that my family supported the games.

Ever since my mother was in the rebellion they started looking at my family more closely, monitoring what was said, monitoring what was done, it took about three years until my mother could start hunting again or so she told me. Everything at my house seemed to be hushed because once in a blue moon there would be a white rose on the door step when I got home, or waiting for me when I got to school so I knew that the Capitol was always watching. At first I thought they were gifts, that was until I got older and knew what my mother did, no those roses weren't gifts they were a sign, a sign that meant no matter what I did I would always have the Capitol on my back, watching.

"Well lucky for you that she did," Lyme said.

"It was… I'm very proud of her," I smiled.

"And I know she will feel the same if you win!" Effie smiled and sounded like herself.

I was told that Effie was a part of the Rebellion but when it came down to questioning her, they had little to no evidence against her and the people loved her too much, so the Capitol let her life but she was to always be District 12's caretaker I guess you could call it. She always seemed so happy about the Games, I guess that was because just like my family she was constantly reminded that the Capitol was always right and that they would always win. It was sad really, they weren't higher than us, there was more of us than there are people of the Capitol and yet we are do what it says because we must. I wanted to yell and scream but no good would ever come of it, so I was going to win the games and make sure I lived.

We ate in silence, it awkward thick air talking about my mother winning the games wasn't the best conversation, actually is was one that I hated bringing up, most people asked me how she did it, then they would ask where is the other victor. Most of the time if not all of them I was told that I looked like him, if I was lucky though I wouldn't hear it at all but those times were rare and few in between. For the longest time I believed most of the people, I couldn't be Gale's because I looked nothing like my father but as the time went by they both told me about my grandmother and my aunt, it just seemed like I got the weird gene in my family.

I don't think about that any more, but talking about how my mother won the games, how she did win with someone else makes me sad because I know that if it was up to my mother she would be with Peeta Mellark even though she loves my father. I haven't fought in the Games yet, I don't know how it feels to know that your life could literally change from killing that person to becoming that persons ally and I hope I don't. I don't want to be Septimus's only hope because I am physically weak and I couldn't do what my mother did.

The dinner was over and I asked to be excused, I wanted to figure out how I could get through these Games, Lyme would come talk to me in the morning but if I don't start thinking about it now then I will be as good as dead. I sat on my bed going over every scenario that I could but nothing seemed to work, I could go with being with the careers but that would make me hated it District 12 but if I don't I have little options… Death sounds about right after all the scenario's ended in my head.

I looked out my window it was dark and I needed rest for tomorrow, so I changed out of the fresh clothes that I had on to night clothes, night was something I needed, I needed sleep so I could just dream and let the real world behind me for just a little while. My dream wasn't a normal one though, I saw my mother with that Peeta guy and she looked like she was the happiest person on the planet but when I walked over to her and tried to talk to her she had no clue who I was and she told me to leave her alone. No one recognized me and it was tearing me apart, I went to the woods and I saw my father and ran to him, he smiled at me and said that he knew I would be here waiting for him.

"Daddy why does mommy not know me?" I asked him.

"Because little Prim she doesn't want to. You're just a dream little one, a dream I had over and over again. It's strange you've never been outside of those. Little Prim tell me something," he smiled and looked down at me.

"What daddy?" I asked.

"Do you really think that I am your father?" He laughed out.

I jolted out of the dream, I sighed and laid my head back down, it was a dream, and I know it was just a dream but the talk that we were having was one of the realist things that I've ever felt. I wanted to call them or talk to one of them but that wasn't going to happen so I just laid there in bed, the sun was starting to come up and I noticed that we must be getting close to the Capitol because the buildings were getting better. My door opened and Lyme walked in, she told me that I was going to eat breakfast in here so she could talk to me a little more about my plan and I knew this day was going to be one of longest days I would ever live.


End file.
